the Amendments of the “United Russia” in labor law regulating remote work, the state Duma plans to consider in the first reading on July 21. This was stated by first Deputy head of the faction Andrei Isayev in the discussion of the draft law with the participation of the labour Minister Anton Kotakova and General Secretary of the party Andrei Turchak, which was held in Chelyabinsk.
Changes to the Labour code will enshrine in legislation the different forms of distance work, protect employees ‘ right to personal time, reglamentary simplified transition on udalenku. The authors of the bill hope that the amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2021.
a Package of amendments to the labor legislation of the “United Russia” in the Duma introduced in mid-June. Now the bill passes, a public comment period in the regional parliaments.
“These changes affect large numbers of citizens, so it was decided to bring the issue to public discussion. The party infrastructure allows you to hear the voice of each region. A series of regional discussions we open in Chelyabinsk and planning to finish it before July 10 to be able to make suggestions in legally precise, unambiguous language,” said Andrei Turchak.
During a pandemic, the transitions of millions of citizens on the remote work has demonstrated gaps in labour legislation, recognized the participants of the discussion. According to Turchak, for the duration of the quarantine acquired a mass character of the workers ‘ rights, including underpayment for overtime, illegal dismissal “for absenteeism”. “This remote form of work – one of the most promising,” said Turchak.
in Total, according to official data of the Ministry of labor, at the peak of a pandemic on remote worked 11% of the working population or 6 million people. “Today, the day remains 5 million jobs located in the remote form of employment – or about 9.5% of the employed citizens”, – said the head of Department Anton Kotkov. Before the pandemic in Russia, officially on remote working were 30 thousand people, led by the Minister of the Fes data.
labor Minister confident that in the near future remote operation “will be perceived as something established”. He expressed hope for a speedy adoption of the amendments. “The bill will contribute to the preservation of employment, including to attract people with disabilities,” said Katkov.
According to forecasts of the Minister, in the future mode remote operation will use about 5% of the population. He also said that areas in which this form of employment will be popular – the service sector, IT, creative sphere. The Minister acknowledged that the regulations did not fully consider the rights of the employees at the remote��the work.
At present, the labour code, the concept of remote operation appears in the narrow sense. Amendment of the “United Russia” imply the introduction of three forms of remote employment. “The first remote (remote) work – what is now present in the labour code, when people deliberately get jobs in order to continue to work remotely: not the employer, and at home or anywhere else. The second is a temporary transfer to a remote (remote) work. This is what we faced EN masse during a pandemic, when workers, due to various reasons had to leave the office or production at the remote work. And the third definition – it was proposed by the Ministry of labour is a combined work which includes the opportunity to work part-time at the employer’s office or in the workplace, and part-time – remotely,” explained one of the authors of the bill, Andrei Isayev. It is the latter form of work – combined, will be popular with employees and employers in the future, agreed the panelists.
it is Important that the amendments protect the rights and interests of workers. So, according to the amendments of the Labour code removed separate grounds for dismissal of the remote employees on the initiative of employers, for example, “change of activity”. Change is fixed and the employee’s right to be “offline”.
Monitoring of the “United Russia” has shown that during the mass udalenka many employers worried about employees deep in non-working time. The amendment establishes a clear work schedule, and overtime must also be paid. In addition, the bill establishes the mechanism for payment of employer equipment, Internet and electricity remote workers.
“We have developed a flexible approach. If the employee knowingly comes to remote work, then this issue can be addressed in the contract between the employee and the employer. We understand that the employee may work for several employers at once, – said Isaev, – If we are talking about a temporary transfer to remote work, then this question should be settled in a special agreement or local normative act”.
As noted by the author of the bill, in its elaboration participated experts from the “United Russia”, representatives of the Federation of independent trade unions, the RSPP and the Ministry of labor. Andrei Isayev added that some issues in the development of the document consciously postponed until the second reading.
Note, after debate in the legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk region the amendment of the “United Russia” in Labor code discussed regional deputies of the Stavropol territory. In the next two weeks their proposals will make MPs from across the country.
